✨ ⚰️ 🎃 Tea’s Recommendations for Spooktober 🎃 ⚰️✨ [Need Something to Read, Watch or Do?] [Try One of These]

Yo, Teacups! Sometimes I feel like I stay caught in a cycle of the same movies, books, activities, and whatever else. If you suffer from this, I hope this small collection of recommendations can be of some help.

P.S. These are obviously just things I like and if you don’t like them too, then that’s absolutely a-okay ❤️

Movies:

• Rosemary’s Baby. What can I say except… it’s exceptional. From the acting to the music to the creeping realisation of “oh, fuck, girl. You're in a satanic cult” Rosemary’s baby is horror at another level. There’s no real gore or splatter, but rather an uncomfortable, building tension that resonates with our truest, most human fear - other people. Would recommend to horror fans and anyone. A truly memorable movie.
• What We Do in the Shadows. Wanna see the lighter side of Vampires? Cool, me too. Set in New Zealand, a group of vampires allow a documentary crew access to their nightly lives. Think The Office meets Ghostbusters meets Interview with the Vampire. Visually very pretty, like any other serious Vampire movie, but with the wit and self-awareness of a TV sitcom. A great one for people who love the aesthetic of Halloween, but not so comfortable with scary stuff.
• Hocus Pocus. Yeah, I said it and I don’t care. It’s cheesy, it’s dated, and I absolutely fucking love it. Join the Sanderson Sisters as they come back from the dead to suck the lives out of the children of Salem, only to be foiled by a virgin, his sister, the girl he has a boner for, and an animatronic cat that really, in all fairness, holds up quite well, even today. It has 90’s nostalgia, sexy halloween ladies, songs and just all around spooky vibes. Brilliant!
• Sweeney Todd. Bold, belting, and bloody brilliant! Even if you’re not a fan of musicals, Sweeney Todd is well worth a watch. Filled to the brim with amazing performances, spectacular kills, and even a strange sense of upbeat-ness. It’s one to tuck in to some Halloween candy and sing a-long to.
• Shaun of the Dead. Witty, gritty, and very, very British. A masterclass in black comedy, zombie gore, and even emotional tension. If you like your horror with that extra little bit of *chef’s kiss* character development - this one is for you.
• The Cabin in the Woods. Horror cliches? Don’t know her. Characters we don’t relate to or care about? Never heard of him. This, ladies and gentlemen, deserves praise not simply as a horror film, but just as a story itself. Subversion, careful, conscious writing, and characters that make rational, logical calls. It’s all here, folks. 
• Midsommar. Holy mental health issues - this one is unpleasant in the most fascinating way. We got grief, we got the death of a relationship, we got cults, we got gaslighting, we got pretty much every person’s worst nightmare, all shot through an unnervingly bright, natural lens. If you want mind-fuckery and Disturbia - you gotta try Midsommar.
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Books:

• Rosemary’s Baby. Fuck the book was better, it’s just nice to enjoy the same story in different forms. The movie is very faithful to the book, but there are obviously differences here and there. You get a lot more insight into Rosemary’s feelings, naturally as the book utilises stream of consciousness. This personally for me, made her realisation even more terrifying as you can hear her thoughts as she’s processing the events. I deeply enjoyed both the book and movie, and I hope you give either or both of them a try.
• Gerald’s Game. You’re in an isolated cabin, handcuffed to the bed, when suddenly your piece of shit husband dies of a heart attack right on top of you. This is a survival horror at it’s most literal and mental. Root for Jessie as she screams, schemes, and claws her way out of her current and lifelong mental imprisonment.
• I Am Legend. Absolutely no disrespect to the Will Smith movie, but this, in my opinion, is a much more interesting, and very different story. The horror in this one is so real and human that it’s extremely depressing and poignant. You can feel the loneliness, the savageness, the utter despair of being removed from everything you once loved. A deep and timeless story.

Activities:

• Bake spooky cookies (or buy them - if that’s an option for you). You don’t have to be skilled at baking to get stuck-in and have a go. Even if they turn out a mess, that’s fine, it adds to the fun of Halloween. Things aren’t supposed to be perfect, they’re supposed to exist. When they’re done, pop them on a plate, grab a hot cup of something and bask in the tooth-rotting goodness.
• Decorate. It’s obvious, it’s silly, and it brings so many of us so much joy. One of the reasons I absolutely adore Halloween is that it’s so frivolous. You could say that about so many Holidays (with more and more of us moving away from religion and even tradition), but Halloween strikes a particularly fun and fickle cord for me. Like, why am I putting pumpkins on my stairs? Because I want to. Did I wrap leaf garlands around my chairs to pay homage to anything important? No, but I like them. Put some fun into your life, buy some skeletons that glow in the dark and just enjoy the wonderful frivolity of it all.
• Campfires. I know this can be done at any time of the year, but sitting around a campfire, listening to your Spooktober playlist, whilst drinking something yummy is just such an experience. Seriously, build it, sit by it, listen to it, and just feel every moment of that cozy goodness.
• Have a Halloween party. Does this really need an explanation? No? Well, here’s one anyway: friends, costumes, food, music and just a really, really good time. Your party can be anything you want it to be - big and loud, or small and intimate. This year I am quite literally just having my family over. We’re gonna build a fire in the garden and we’re making Halloween themed food. That’s it, no overpriced costumes, no breaking the bank on anything. Just us, some food, and the spooky vibes.

And that’s my offering for the month. I hope some of this can lead to a good time for you. I truly do.

Best wishes,

Tea